With apologies to William Shakespeare, to bond or not to bond, that is the question Utah lawmakers are wrestling with.
The discussion is currently centering around using bonds to pay for maintenance projects in Utah’s state parks, which are currently seeing an increase in visitors due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“We haven’t put any money into state parks for a long time,” says House Minority Whip Mike Schultz, R-Hooper, who is heading up the discussions over whether to bond or not.
Proponents say issuing bonds to pay for state park maintenance would bring a boost to the rural areas of the state, which are struggling amid the current economic downturn.
“We should do this because it’s an economic driver for rural Utah,” says Schultz. “They’re getting hammered right now. If we can do things that improve the state’s assets and give people more opportunities, that’s a good move. The demand for our state parks and outdoor recreation in Utah is through the roof right now, so this would spur the rural economy.”
Schultz says the list of maintenance projects for Utah’s 43 state parks has “more on there than you can ever fund.”
Lawmakers may also use bonding to pay for some transportation and transit projects. Construction is a surefire way to keep money flowing through the economy, which mutes the impact of any slowdown. There are a number of construction projects coming to an end in the next six months, and the state doesn’t have the money to pay for new construction with cash.
“We all think there will be some advantage to getting some projects done in a down market. Bonding would let us take advantage of better pricing and stretch our tax dollars,” says Schultz.
Lawmakers like to crow about the state’s triple-A bond rating and low levels of debt. Schultz says interest rates for bonds are “stupid low” right now, making taking on some debt an attractive option for lawmakers. Schultz says Utah could easily issue $2 billion in new bonds and only get to about half of the state’s statutory limit on debt.
Legislators may not take up the bonding issue in next week’s special session. The issue is on a list of possible topics for the Aug. 20 session that is currently circulating among legislative leadership, but some legislators say there’s not much of an appetite to address bonding right now.
Schultz says he’s not sure if the issue will come up on the list of bills for the Thursday special session.
“I don’t know if we’re going to tackle it in August or wait until the general session in January,” he said.
Schultz did point to a third possibility. There may be at least one more special session in the fall, and lawmakers could take up the issue then.
